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Messages - boonebikeguy

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1
Bike Clubs / Starting a Bike Club
« on: May 24, 2007, 02:37:32 am »
Deb,
THAT'S a bike GANG!!! LOL. But yeah the best clubs are the ones without names. We had splinter groups that had elite riders, tourists, weekenders and even less frequent riders that grouped together when I lived in Wichita Falls Texas. There for awhile before I left a bunch of us had a small group that roide on only OLD five speed or less throw-backs like old Puegeots, Masis' and the like and no later technology allowed. It was pretty cool because the dynamic of beating each others brains out in throw down festivals was vastly different and so satifying that it makes you wonder if the golden age of Cycling was 1978. I still have a five-speed Peug touring bike I commute everywehre i go in the mountains, and  after riding that hbunk of metal for a week reiding a Racing bike with good tech is like amazing. My legs become stronger.

Wow I am completely off topic.

beer and ? of course!!!

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

2
Bike Clubs / Petrozavodsk Bicycle Travel Club
« on: May 02, 2007, 02:48:52 pm »
Hey I'd love to Bike RUssia, I raced in Kazahkstan and Kyrgyzstan...I'd love to spend time riding there...

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

3
Urban Cycling / Wichita Falls Texas
« on: May 09, 2007, 10:15:43 am »
Yes, it IS a plains state and flat. But the roads around that city of 100,000 are perfect. I grew up for awhile there in WF. It's kind of like a wasteland paradise. Rugged semi-arid beauty, miles of open road with little traffic...miles and miles of riding. When I was younger, I would do monster rides, I'd re-enter town after four or five on the road and it was like I was a character out of the road warrior, you know out of the wasteland heat pouring off your body.

The Hotter than Hell Hundred is held there in august of each year. I mention this city because cycling is king there as far as sports people DO Soccer being a close second. You have every amenotie one can imagine for me: Aisan markets(YES PLURAL!!!), fresh veggie markets, coffe shops and endless choices in food (AND COLD BEER). I reccommend this little gem for the avid tourist to stop there. The roads in Texas are the best in the world barring Germany or maybe Belgium as far as people knowing about cyclists and the maintainence level. If you need a great training area and are looking for  big skies and plenty of sunshine, I recommend it. I sound like a travel advert.... Believe it or not BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I left WF because i was sick of the area....I don't regret it after being around the world a couple of times and living on the Big E coast for five years now, but to tell you how good the riding was there, I am going to consider breaking of the trans a little to dip down to WF. I commuted all over that city every day and most of my life there...Winters are kind of bad what with snow and ice.... BUT short. And most likely mild enough for hard-core riders like me and most of you here that you can generally ride year round without much interruption.

Drawbacks:

 
Intense heat during the summer months ( I actually go so used to it however i rode in the hottest part of the day for  hours and it did not pahse me.)

Generally flat

INCREDIBLLY WINDY

Pluses:

Wonderful community and bike freindly (mainly because WF draws in millions each year from cyclists that come for HHH and other traditonal races held there (My FAV was the Holiday HEATSTROKE)

ARSE-kicking cultural community. For a city of 100,000 in the wastelands of Texas it has a geat cultural diversity  (live theatre, jazz club...etc..).

ON THE CHEAP- My apartment was 450.00$ that was high for a really nice one bedroom ...

EASY jobs... you will turn down jobs there because it is growing and is of course in Texas a great economic power (despite the dilemas of late)

Two fine bike shops--ironically only TWO bike shops exist in the city, BUT they are some of the best ever...every tool part or type of bike can be found there, staffed to this day by people who love cycling and are not there to simply sell you a 3,000$ bike.

HUGE..and I mean HUGE (did I mention large?) Cycling community.

From hammerheads to freewheelers...you have your choices...so many sub-groups and local cliques that any level of rider is going to find plenty of people to ride with. If you go there  Hit up MSU..go to  the second floor of MOFFET library and find the 1996 MSU cycling team picture on the wall there somewhere (second floor near rare books)..the guy with the shaved head is ME!!!! Yaaaaaaay!!!

Anyway, many retired folks who are cyclists end up here..for reasons I have pointed out. SO That's my contribution for the day.


"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

This message was edited by boonebikeguy on 5-9-07 @ 6:27 AM

4
Urban Cycling / why bike?
« on: May 09, 2007, 12:34:20 am »
Angry? No dissapointed that people of this nation say say say_never do.? For your information I am probablly one of the few REAL liberals left in this nation. It's no Fox news..or the tele  (I rarely watch the thing anymore) It is what I experience every day.But Angry? No Usually people who want to dissmiss something a person has said that is true will try to undermine it by callng them 'something'. So I would choose another new and inventive way to undermine my point, maybe a colourful attack on my charact--er--wait a tick. Never mind!

Look I started riding again because I believe in what I not only say but think.The most hypocritical people I have ever met in my entire life ..unfortunately..seem to come from the left ..typically. I consider myself a minimlist when it comes to gov, spending, daily life etc.. So riding a bike is not only practical but it saves  money and keeps you healthy and fit. You know the 'hippys' came from the term hipster and is derived from being 'hip'. SO the very concept is bourne of not being real to begin with but being hip or popular. it is popular in our nation to mouth-off about how much one looovves the earth, but as soon as they say this they hop in their gigantor SUV and guzzle their way home to bitvch about how much americans pollute the earth. Fascinating. Americans are funny birds. I am one but perhaps one in a minority. I live as I preach and certainly belive what I say. Most people in this nation do not obviously. SO at least the 'right-wingers' are honest they never talk about how much they loooooove recycling. They either do it or do not. Other people? not so much. Liberals..pretty much hijacked the idea of being a good steward to the earth, and basically they are not good stewards...just all talk (overall and generally).

Love to talk about it more with you, but you see my point. I mean afterall you dubbed me 'very angry' . Obviously to undermine my point. That's cool that's just your style, not mine.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

This message was edited by boonebikeguy on 5-8-07 @ 8:37 PM

5
Urban Cycling / why bike?
« on: May 08, 2007, 01:56:28 pm »
Cutting short my child-hood stories and racing stories. After I raced for so long I burned out and quit completely. Became a professional drunkard. lost touch . One day I just rode to work, it hurt. I was still able to pound the milesd out quickly and obviously not a simple bike rider, but it hurt to push it.. I started riding everywhere work shopping etc... My car had prblems and I abandoned it basically. I ride everywhere i go rare I ride the bus.What I think is funny are all the yuppie-psudeo-hippyt people that claim to looooooove the planet yet ride to the local liberal brood coffeee shop in their land rover, complete with oil based stickers decrying OIL and slurrping on their high-priced coffeee in between cellphone calls. If they really believed in what they preach and were really liberals then they would ride more and drive less. But leave it to a moderate to point this out. I think riding is benefical to health mental fortitude and overall happiness.If one out of twenty people rode to work ONCE w ekk, the  I assure you the market price for gas would plummet.BUt of course we are a culture of Clinton-esque actions. SAY SAY SAY never do do do.I continue to commute because I believe I am helping the environment on my own level.  I have come to despise liberals for that reason. In Boone even the real hippies don't practice what they preach. Theyt drive three feet to their broods and talk about how horrible the US is yet waste more fuel than I do in one trip to their over-priced coffeee dens.I hate rednecks evemn more now because they drive like idiots complete idiots. I hate most truck drivers because they drive worse than red-necks. People are killing themselves inside of these cars and look like giant A-holes reaching their demise. If I had any power in gov't I'd be hated because I would demand public schools city councils and county maintainence provide roads for cycling, schools offer and force kids to ride for health as part of a school cirriculm to exit high school(Like a national fitness challenge.). And force communities to sponser programmes to encourage and even force people to commute on bikes in town to save gas and simply protect the environment. Of course common-sense tells you that  New York for example would be tough to do, but mid-west and mid-sized cities would be easy.


I hope that made sense ande was germain to your topic.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

6
Urban Cycling / commuting by bike
« on: June 06, 2007, 10:31:13 am »
Yeah Bruno I am pretty negative...but can you blame me?

I want to love people but I love my dog more. I try to keep my mouth shut and middle fingers on my bike when I encounter the WONDERFUL lil people that take time to say something smart or honk at me on my commutes. Commuting is supposed to make you feel better not make your blood pressure rise. I too want happy everything to people but man as i get older the more I figure out that people are more bad than good.

Bad thing is I will use an Ipod say tro store my music. But I don't use it like everywhere I go. Don't even have one right now. Cellphones? I have a tracphone I use to simply communicate with people. it is not attached to my ear. Teles? SUCK only good for ewatching bike races, ocassional news and maybe Family guy once in a while. That's it. I lived in North texas for four years without cable and used my tele just to watch VHS movies and taped bike races.

I guess my largest concern is that 23% of people in our nation as an average can be considered OBESE. 20% of children in this nation ARE obese or overwieght. 35% of our entire nation is completely out of shape. We are becomming slugs. So I plead with people to walk, or ride or even walk to a bus stop and get the F out of that coffin you call a prius. Cars are necessary I agree and only an idiot would say otherwise, but they are not your life. Yeah I am a nut for riding and strange, but at least my last thoughts of this world will not be who should i text while I am driving 120 kiles an hour and neglected to see the guy in front of me JAM on his brakes because his coffee spilt on his pants and he dropped his cellphone. Commuting is a wonderful thing...too bad it is a dying practice apparently.That goes for me too.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

7
Urban Cycling / commuting by bike
« on: June 06, 2007, 09:50:51 am »
Big Ringer.

Man WHY would you throw a bike away? You can re-fit a frame with new or even the same level of components you wore out! SHAAAAAAAAAMMME on you sir !=-). May the Belgian cycling God be merciful when his retribution for this cardinal sin is exacted upon you! [/big pointy fingered surmmon]. But all kidding aside. Man never never never never throw a frame away because a shifter is broken!

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

This message was edited by boonebikeguy on 6-6-07 @ 5:52 AM

8
Urban Cycling / commuting by bike
« on: June 06, 2007, 09:36:59 am »
I live in Boone Nc (NOW) , but two summers ago I lived 25.1 miles from Boone (In Creston NC)...so I would ride 25.1 miles to work, and then 25.1 miles home after work. I worked five days a week. Thats over 250 miles in commuting alone, on weekends I'd ride other training bike another 80-100miles the weekend. I used to ride much more in Texas, but I was actually racing for two teams then...so I never considered the benefits beyond what I took for granted. I loved that summer because i felt mentally and physically balanced. Once you burn out..it takes so much time to simply remember that riding is for fun not work.So I think FORCED commuting would be a wonderful thingy. MAKE people ride the bike once a week and I can garuntee you sh*t like divorce rates, depression, manic anxieties and blood pressures would drop like a rock.

Each day I commute in Boone I see the red faced uptight locals and the floridiots that have invaded Boone. They drive like there literally is no tomorrow. I wonder what their lives must be like, being angry uptight and in a f-ing hurry everywhere they go. As you can see I don't like humans very much at all to begin with, but you HAVE to live on this planet with them especially if you are one. I just think people live FOR their cars and ipods and stupid cellphones. We don't talk to our children, we text them (rolling eyes). I bet if people just commuted ONCE a month things would change, much less twice or three times a month. Civility, manners and plain ol just treating others nicely has vanished. Instead it is a freakin nascar race everywhere people go. And if people have to slow down for two seconds, the red in the face shouting and clenched fist tells me they really love life. My favorites are the people who drive like mad hatters and reckless yet have a 'JESUS' sticker or a 'FISH' emblem on their car.

I love them the most.Vote for me and I will force americans to ride a bike!!! Tyranny works!

Anyway [/rantoff]

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

This message was edited by boonebikeguy on 6-6-07 @ 5:39 AM

9
Urban Cycling / what bike do you use for pure urban ridin'?
« on: May 18, 2007, 01:02:11 pm »
Yeah man Thanks for the kudos.. Love me some mountain riding. I have been riding up here for five years..went to the lowlands and rode once since then and was simply amazed....We are riding down to asheville this weekend (200 miles in two day there and back) I chose to ride up winklers for the helluva climbs before heading on the asheville. Monster rides for monster bikes.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

10
Urban Cycling / what bike do you use for pure urban ridin'?
« on: May 15, 2007, 12:22:26 am »
Hey Sail,
No offense man... sorry.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

11
Urban Cycling / what bike do you use for pure urban ridin'?
« on: May 04, 2007, 12:06:55 pm »
Sail: How do you like your pedals with SPD on one side and platform ot the other. I only know one guy who had those, but he liked them. I'm kinda suspicious though, he was anxious to sell them to me.

Paul



don't buy them in my opinion those types of pedals SUCK, too many problems with tensioning and nothing sucks more than being in a  climb and your pedals release your cleat......Just my 2-bits, but I'd never buy those things unless I rode around a parking lot and that's it.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

This message was edited by boonebikeguy on 5-4-07 @ 8:08 AM

12
Urban Cycling / what bike do you use for pure urban ridin'?
« on: May 04, 2007, 12:03:44 pm »
I got all you cats BEAT. I ride a 1970 custom built one of a kind Puegeot toruing bike. It is like piloting a Y-wing from Star Wars...big bulky slow as hell but comfy and fun. Drool fools here . I WAS trying to sell it on e-bay...but in my heart I just could not do it. I'll consider re-building the wheel-set and mounting contemporary compact cranks and clipless pedals and ride IT across the nation...that'd be tight.I just mounted a new saddle that is pretty comfy. I mount a MARS multi  light in the back..I ride it up here in Boone everday...and I assure you it would put hair on you chest after a week of commuting on this monster in the mountains. No one here can TOP IT!!!! LOL If thay can then I'm all jealous and stuff.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

13
Urban Cycling / top bicycle-friendly cities and towns
« on: May 03, 2007, 04:07:39 am »
<
Where do you get these?  All of the "dedicated bike paths" I've ever seen are shared with walkers, runners, kids on skateboards, baby carriages, dogs on loooong leashes and, in general, users not paying the slightest attention to traffic discipline. In fact, most of them look at bicyclists as unwelcome intruders on THEIR trail.

In many ways, they are far more dangerous than road riding.

I agree that rail-trails far away from residential areas and at least one mile from major road crossings or parking areas can be nice to ride on but city trails are a horror for biking.>>

Well said..I HATE the so-called 'bike paths'...open roads and just a little consideration go a long way in my book. MOst people drive like jack-holes and as if it is a nascar race everywhere they go. They are mostly inconsiderate and hateful towards ANYONE on a bike..however..the few people that just drive like sane individuals make up for the vast majority of jackholes out there especially most truckers, they are a danger to themselves and everyone around them. [/rant off]


"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

14
Classifieds / budget buyer
« on: May 21, 2007, 10:38:31 am »
My question is how much are you willing to spend.Normally I would suggest going to a local bike shop first, tell the owner or mech what you are looking for and how much you have to spend. Secondly I would also ask about local bike club members, usually you can find a cheap yet quality ride  within your  own local community. IF all of those options fail you which is slim, then I would go online to places like Bike Nashbar, or e-bay. BUt I cannot stress enough the primary choice of shopping locally first.A good entry level touring bike may be as low as 400$-600$ used that's a good comftorable frame and worthy componenets. Anything less and you're riding a Wal-Mart bike and they generally suck.Nothing blows more than a crappy bike. You get a crappy experience and I can tell you that I have seen more than one story about people who wanted to start cycling but were turned off forever because they chose to ride a crappy Wal-Mart bike. A really GOOD consideration would be to buy a Mountain Bike and fit it with Slicks. Most tourists I have met normally ride older unsuspended Mountain Bikes and they love em. Infact the two guys that rode around the world recently, one of them rode and anchient mountain bike..and he loved it.
What you do not want to do is rush out and buy the cheapest bike you can find...it will be self-evident as to why if you choose to go that route.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

This message was edited by boonebikeguy on 5-21-07 @ 6:41 AM

15
Classifieds / RAM
« on: May 08, 2007, 12:51:33 pm »
Open invitation for a ride across america in august.

It won't be a weak ride.

five days on of no less than 80 a day.

I plan on leaving from nags head NC and hitting the TA route and ending in oregons coast. I want a companion and I admit it is a ride that is not 'fun' for most people.

Contact me personally if you want more info or POST here.

Paul.

"Love is a river where crazy people drown"--Kyrgyz proverb

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